Egypt Wants Brazil's Technology on Ethanol & Deep-Water Drilling

 Brazzil Mag - November 20, 2008

Full Article: Brazil - Brazzil Mag - Egypt Wants Brazil's Technology on Deep-Water Drilling and Ethanol

The Egyptian minister of Petroleum, Sameh Fahmi, is in Brazil to attend the International Conference on Biofuels, scheduled to continue until next Friday in the city of São Paulo. In an interview given before he left Cairo, he stated that he wants to get to know the Brazilian initiative better and believes that, in case it does not contradict Egyptian objections regarding production of biofuels from food, then the Brazilian experience might be applied in Egypt.

Brazil has been making large-scale use of ethanol made from sugarcane for more than three decades now and, at the same time, food production in the country has grown immensely. Approximately half the cane crop is used for manufacturing alcohol fuel, and the other half turns to sugar. The new agricultural zoning conducted by the Brazilian government shows that there are some 40 million hectares available in the country for new cane fields, with no need for taking over food crops or environmental preservation areas.

The thesis that biofuel production harms food farming, which has been propagated since last year, especially by European countries, was one of the reasons that led the Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to promote the conference. It will allow for Brazil to prove, by reporting its own experience, that agro-energy does not necessarily compete with food production. On the contrary, depending on the country, the sector may constitute a guarantee of energy security and lead to development. During his visit, Fahmi is also willing to meet with representatives of Brazilian biofuel sector companies and of the country's state-owned oil company Petrobras, so as to present the opportunity of concessions for deepwater oil drilling in the Mediterranean Sea.